The Grand Emperor had fallen — slain in battle on the immortal road. The savagery of it was a profound shock to the mind.
In the hearts of the world, the two characters meaning “great emperor” weighed heavier than Mount Tai itself. There was nothing they could not accomplish, no foe they could not defeat — they were the very embodiment of invincibility.
And yet precisely such a figure had died — pulverized to nothing. It shook everyone to the core.
Ye Fan took one last look at the glowing imperial blood and the fragments of white bone and flesh, then left this place and made his way toward the outer battlefield, intent on finding answers.
Before the dark-red flames, those eight or nine Great Sages had not yet dispersed. They still stood there, observing carefully.
When Ye Fan and Huntuo emerged one after the other, the Great Sages showed expressions of surprise. They wanted to ask about what lay within, yet had no close enough relationship and were too wary of the two — for both of them carried emperor weapons.
Only an elder clan leader from the ancient clans stepped forward, approached Huntuo, and inquired briefly. Upon learning the gist of it, his expression shifted greatly.
At last, they arrived at the ancient battlefield. One blurred silhouette after another — all imprints of ancient heroic spirits. A thousand armies and ten thousand troops surging forward, their presence powerful enough to overwhelm the soul.
Even though one could pass through this place, one still had to consciously avoid the most powerful of those imprints. To stumble into them would very likely invite serious trouble.
To say nothing of seeking out the most terrible of those screaming roars — an imprint that would be world-shaking, certainly left by a great-emperor-level figure, permanently branded here, impossible to erase.
Scorched earth stretched in all directions. Mountains shattered and rivers broken. The formation markings had lost their luster and gone dim. By any measure, this was a landscape of utter annihilation — exploded into a shattered, incomplete world.
When Ye Fan and Huntuo, along with the other Great Sages, arrived and searched carefully, they were all struck with sudden dread. They had discovered countless star-stones — stones that even an ordinary saint could not move.
“These are true stars — someone casually snatched them out and refined them, using them as magical weapons before smashing them to ruin!” Huntuo exclaimed softly.
Many star-stones lay upon the ground, no larger than a fist, dimly flickering with faint light within the currents of formation markings — a sight that shook the heart.
Were the enchantments dissolved, these things might instantly swell back into full-sized stars. It was truly as if an entire expanse of sky had been blown apart, with all the debris plummeting here to rest.
“Undying Heaven Emperor—!”
The furious screaming cry finally rang out. Both Ye Fan and Huntuo had emperor weapons suspended above their heads, shielding them. Pressing forward against enormous pressure, they advanced to see for themselves.
The figure was monumental — blurred, and yet so crushing in its presence that it felt suffocating. This was only a fractured, incomplete imprint, yet it felt as though all nine layers of heaven were bearing down, making even the deep teal gourd and the green bronze cauldron shudder and sway.
“What — this person is—!”
Ye Fan was taken aback. Though he could only see a silhouette from behind, it did not look like a human — the aura it carried was too overwhelmingly domineering, too peerlessly transcendent, its spirit piercing the vault of the heavens.
“The Battle Sage Emperor!”
The Great Sage Huntuo cried out. He was a figure of the late ancient era, and had once had an audience with the peerless Sage Emperor — had even been pressed down by that one’s hand and given guidance. How could he not recognize him?
A colossal silhouette — one that could pluck stars from the sky — flashed for an instant, then vanished. After all, this was only a remnant imprint, not a true form or manifestation.
The situation had grown ever more complex. The Battle Sage Emperor had also been here!
The earlier roar had not been the Grand Emperor’s at all — it had been the Battle Sage Emperor who had discovered something, who had been seized with fury in this very place, bellowing his furious rebuke at the Undying Heaven Emperor.
What had truly happened in the Immortal Realm world in those ancient days? The mist hung thick and impenetrable. One could only deduce that it was connected to the immortal road — for this had once been a valid location leading toward it.
Ye Fan’s brows furrowed. The roar had not been from the Grand Emperor, but from that monkey’s father — and now conjecture had become impossible. Everything was completely different from what they had imagined.
“The Grand Emperor’s death should have nothing to do with the Undying Heaven Emperor.” The Great Sage Huntuo spoke, exhaling a long breath. He too had harbored suspicions, but he did not wish to see the supreme deity in his heart bear such a stain.
Now it seemed that the Grand Emperor had died — most likely falling on the immortal road of his own accord, blood spattering the ground, unable to enter the Immortal Domain, pulverized to nothing and slain.
And yet Ye Fan’s brows remained knitted. Something told him the matter was not that simple.
That monkey’s father, in his earlier years, had revered the Undying Heaven Emperor much as the ancient clans did. But in the end, he had overturned that one’s sacred grounds and cut all ties entirely.
What the true reason had been, outsiders had no way to know.
Until today, when Ye Fan encountered this fractured imprint in this place, something clicked — perhaps it was connected to the immortal road!
The Undying Heaven Emperor had been scheming in this location. Most likely, the Battle Sage Emperor had perceived something of it, and upon returning, had overturned his sacred grounds and smashed his divine idols.
And it must have been an affair of tremendous weight. Otherwise, given the Battle Sage Emperor’s standing, he would not have acted in such a radical and fierce manner.
A hundred thousand years later, the Grand Emperor had also come here — also seeking immortality. But how could a single location become a valid point on the immortal road twice in succession? Either someone had deliberately set a trap, drawing the Grand Emperor in, or this place truly was extraordinarily special.
“If this really is connected to the Undying Heaven Emperor, then he is the most terrifying person in existence — persisting without dying for several hundred thousand years, capable of scheming against two great emperors in sequence. Truly frightening.” The porcelain doll blinked her large eyes, her expression a little fearful.
Huntuo’s brows furrowed. The elderly clan leaders of the ancient families nearby were not pleased to hear this, and glared over — but when they met Ye Fan’s cold eyes, they had no choice but to turn away.
The Immortal Realm world was layered in mystery. What the truth truly was could no longer be ascertained — for the events were too distant in time, and the great emperors of antiquity had cycled through far too many generations.
Ye Fan returned to where the emperor’s body had been shattered. Standing at the perimeter, he stared at the blood and flesh, his eyes resting upon the one palm that had survived intact, his brows slowly furrowing.
That palm was crystalline as jade — its inner surface facing up. If one looked carefully at the back of the hand, there were faint wrinkles visible. It had not been fully preserved in a youthful state.
Evidently, the Grand Emperor had already been very old at the time — well into his twilight years. If one were to say that he had weakened with age, his blood and qi running dry, and had ultimately failed at the final step and fallen on the immortal road of his own accord, that would be entirely plausible.
In the end, Ye Fan smoothed out his brows. What was the use of troubling himself over it? There was no need.
In truth, extracting a few useful pieces of information from all this was enough. First: the Undying Heaven Emperor had not died in the Purple Mountain — he had come to this place. Second: that monkey’s father had also come here, perceived something, and then gone back to overturn his sacred grounds entirely. Third: the Grand Emperor had stormed this pass and fallen here, toppling into a blood-soaked end on the immortal road.
Whatever the case, this place had no use in the present age. The primordial chaos had cut off the road ahead. The immortal path had crumbled.
There was nothing more to investigate in this Immortal Realm world, as far as Ye Fan was concerned. He could let the curtain fall. He had, in the end, explored every secret of this world more thoroughly than anyone.
“A pity. A great emperor of the human clan ended up like this — dead without an intact body, all for the sake of immortality.” Ye Fan sighed deeply.
Did immortals truly exist in this world? As of now, it was becoming deeply doubtful. Across all of history, not a single truly successful example had ever emerged. The most powerful of all — the Heavenly Venerables, the ancient emperors, the great emperors — had all but failed. Not one solid, verifiable instance had ever been recorded.
Immortality — too elusive, too distant. Even for great emperors, only regret and sorrow were left behind!
“Brother Daoist, will you be attending the grand assembly not far from now?” When they departed from this forbidden zone, the Great Sage Huntuo asked.
“What grand assembly?” Ye Fan was puzzled. He had only just returned, and had not had time to pay attention to such news, so he had not heard of any great gathering.
“The Grand Assembly of Ten Thousand Clans!” The Great Sage Huntuo answered.
Ye Fan was startled for a moment. He still remembered the Grand Assembly of Ten Thousand Clans at Jade Lake from years past — it had been a time of sweeping upheaval, with humans and ancient clans locked in one breathtaking contest after another.
The Great Sage Huntuo said, “In this age, the true immortal road is about to appear. The Northern Dipper grows more chaotic by the day — battles without cease, saints shedding blood against one another. A framework needs to be established.”
There were rumors throughout the world that this age would be different from all those before it. Ancient emperors and human great emperors alike had theorized that heaven and earth might spontaneously crack open an immortal gate, connecting through to the Immortal Domain — but only for a limited time. For that reason, it was inevitable that rivers of blood would be shed in pursuit of entry, leaving mountains of bone behind. The Northern Dipper was destined to become the storm center of the entire universe. Conflict was unavoidable — but things could not remain in constant turmoil indefinitely. The clans would need to convene and establish certain rules.
“I will go and take a look when the time comes.” Ye Fan gave a nod, and there bid farewell to the bringer of ruin.
Upon returning to the Hall of Extraordinary Men, the porcelain doll and the several young cultivators were brimming with excitement. They bowed deeply to Ye Fan, expressing their profound gratitude. Everything they had experienced today had been beyond their wildest imagination. Walking alongside Great Sages, witnessing the bones of an ancient great emperor — these were things they would never have dared dream of before. And yet today, they had lived it.
In the northern part of the Central Domain, the Dark City — a place that had made even invincible powerhouses of antiquity frown and feel dread.
The Western Queen Mother had appeared there. The Great Completion Sacred Body had come there. The Void Emperor had presided over it. The Beginningless Great Emperor had descended upon it… Every one of these names represented an extreme Dao supreme being.
This city was too singular. In every great dark upheaval, it had inevitably become the eye of the storm.
For it lay not far from the Undying Mountain — and not an overwhelming distance from that Sacred Cliff either. It was an ancient city that, in ages of chaos, faced the forbidden zones of life head-on.
One of its Great Completion Sacred Bodies had fought in blood-soaked battle against the Undying Mountain for a lifetime, and in his twilight years had shed his blood on the Sacred Cliff in his final stand. In his prime, he had once kept watch over the Dark City, quelling — no one knew how many — outbreaks of chaos.
The Void Emperor had fought in blood across the major forbidden zones as well, the most brutal battle being his final clash at the Undying Mountain.
The Beginningless Great Emperor had also acted with overwhelming force in this place, cutting down supreme beings from the dark era, and had sealed an ancient titan that rarely appeared once in countless ages — the Divine Sealing Scroll he had refined still pressed down upon the Sacred Cliff to this day.
The Dark City was, without question, the foremost city of the Central Domain. It bore an immortal legend and a name that resounded through all six directions and eight wastes, carrying immense historical weight.
In recent days, the Dark City had been far from peaceful. For a great assembly was soon to be hosted here. The human clans of the Northern Dipper, the major ancient lineages from deep antiquity, and saints from beyond the realm would all be appearing.
This was a true Grand Assembly of Ten Thousand Clans — no longer belonging solely to the Northern Dipper. Every powerful clan from across the universe that had appeared upon this ancient star would have representatives present.
In just the last few days, powerful figures had been arriving in a steady stream, turning this place into a swirling tempest and drawing the gaze of everyone under heaven. Virtually every person of significance would attend.
“Hmm, that is the old clan leader of the Flame Unicorn Cave. I hear their ancient emperor’s son has disappeared and has yet to return.”
Elder figures of the ancient clans, those of the highest standing, had all come — one could imagine how much importance they placed on this gathering.
“Oh — that is Jiang Yi Fei, the Sacred Master of the Jiang Clan. He has come too. There are rumors outside that he may be the true son of the Eternal Universe Great Emperor, that his former identity was a fiction.”
“Impossible. That is only hearsay.”
On the street, a young man in white as pure as snow, his bearing as refined as jade, sat astride a golden qilin, untouched by any dust of the world, radiating a transcendent, crystalline serenity.
Around him, a host of riders kept pace.
“The Head of the Wind Clan of the Central Domain, Feng Huang, has arrived. This woman has been truly stunning in recent years — she solved the mystery of the ancient stele’s lost scripture that had been her clan’s inheritance.”
“Oh, truly? I have heard there was once a grudge between her and the human Sacred Body.”
A woman bearing a five-colored mask, her entire body wreathed in swirling colored mists, swept across the sky and vanished swiftly into the distance. A group of powerful figures followed in her wake, and no one dared approach.
“What am I seeing — a colossal black tortoise is being carried in a litter by people, coming to attend the grand assembly as well. What sort of background does it have?!”
“Quiet — that is the guardian deity of the Southern Ridge Barbarian Clan. The ones carrying the litter are ancient beasts who admire it deeply. This tortoise became a saint before the heavens and earth underwent transformation. Its depths are now unfathomable.”
In these last several days, powerful figures poured into the Dark City in ever greater numbers. Figures had arrived from ancient stars such as the Firesang Ancient Star, the Gouchen Ancient Star, the Tongtian Ancient Star, and others.
One hundred and some tens of years had passed — and by now, a great many powerful clans from distant star regions had already descended upon the Northern Dipper.